Morsy assures his people that his moves are only temporary and intended to clear the political obstacles posed by remnants of the old regime. An order banning courts from overturning any decisions he has made or will make in the next six months, Morsy says, will last only until a new constitution is put together.

His critics, however, say Morsy has made himself into a dictator -- and that dictators can't be trusted.

"We, as citizens, no longer have safeguards for our freedoms and rights," Amr Hamzawy, a former member of parliament and a member of Egypt's Freedom Party, told CNN on Sunday.

Even if Morsy stays true to his word and rescinds the decree after the constitution is finalized, he will have managed to consolidate more power, said Eric Trager, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Photos:Egyptians protest president's powers

Photos:Egyptians protest president's powers

Egyptians protest presidential powers – A street vendor grills corn as Egyptian soldiers stand guard at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, December 18, in Cairo. Protesters opposed to President Mohamed Morsy's first round of voting in the constitutional referendum gather during continuing demonstrations.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration at the Presidential Palace on December 18 in Cairo.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – An Egyptian woman types on her laptop before the start of a demonstration opposing President Mohamed Morsy on December 18 in Cairo.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – People make their way through a market place on Monday, December 17, in Cairo.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – A supporter of Egypt's President Mohamed Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood holds Quran as he shouts during a demonstration in Cairo on Friday, December 14.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Women pray during a demonstration in support of President Mohamed Morsy in Cairo on December 14.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Egyptian army tanks are deployed outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Thursday, December 13. Egypt's crisis showed no sign of easing as the army delayed unity talks meant to ease political divisions and the opposition set near-impossible demands for taking part in a looming constitutional referendum.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Girls walk with Egypt's national flag draped over their backs to a rally for supporters of President Mohamed Morsy in Cairo on Tuesday, December 11.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Protesters on December 11 attempt to bring down cement walls that security forces placed around the presidential palace in Cairo.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Security forces stand guard in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on December 11.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Protesters opposed to Egypt's president demonstrate on top of a barricade erected by the Egyptian army to protect the presidential palace in Cairo on December 11.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – A young protester climbs atop a barricade erected by the Egyptian army on December 11. There were no incidents of violence and soldiers held the line as a couple of hundred protesters pressed up against waist-high crowd barriers.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Protesters remove part of a metal barrier protecting the presidential palace on December 11.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Egyptian army troops stand guard in front of a metal barricade on December 11.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – An Egyptian army soldier patrols outside the Egyptian presidential palace on Monday, December 10, in Cairo. The Egyptian political crisis erupted last month when President Mohamed Morsy issued an edict allowing himself to run the country unchecked until the drafting of a new constitution.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Members of the Egyptian opposition gather for a protest outside the presidential palace on Sunday, December 9, in Cairo. The palace has been the scene of violent clashes pitting thousands of protesters -- for and against Morsy.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Guy Fawkes masks are displayed by a street vendor in front of the Egyptian presidential palace in Cairo on December 9. The masks depict Fawkes, a rebel executed in England's Gunpowder Plot seeking to blow up the House of Lords in the early 1600s.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – Egyptian army engineers and soldiers build a third line of concrete blocks outside of the Egyptian presidential palace in Cairo in preparation for more protests on December 9.

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Egyptians protest presidential powers – An Egyptian protester sweeps the street near army tanks deployed outside the presidential palace in Cairo on December 8, after continued protests overnight.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – A sticker depicting Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy reads "leave" on the ground near the presidential palace on December 8.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Egyptian soldiers take position on a road leading to the presidential palace on December 8.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – A protester tries to climb over a barbed-wire fence as Egyptian soldiers stand guard during a demonstration near the presidential palace in Cairo on Friday, December 7.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy and members of the Muslim Brotherhood shout during the funerals of fellow Morsy supporters at Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo on December 7.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Protesters angry over Morsy's decisions giving himself unchecked powers surround the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo after starting a fire inside the compound on Thursday, December 6.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Riot police form a line as anti-Morsy protesters surge around the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo on December 6.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – An anti-Morsy protester shouts during a march to the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, on December 6.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Protesters are blocked from approaching the the presidential palace by the Egyptian army on December 6 in Cairo.

Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsy supporters destroy tents of anti-Morsy protesters outside the presidential palace on December 5.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Morsy supporters carry an injured man to safety during clashes with anti-Morsy demonstrators on a road leading to the Egyptian presidential palace on December 5.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of Morsy clash with anti-Morsy demonstrators on a road leading to the Egyptian presidential palace on December 5.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Egyptian riot police stand behind barbwire as thousands of Egyptian demonstrators march to the presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, December 4.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Tens of thousands of demonstrators encircled the presidential palace in Cairo after riot police failed to keep them at bay with tear gas on December 4.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – An Egyptian woman waves a national flag as demonstrators march to the presidential palace in Cairo on December 4.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – A Morsy supporter waves a flag outside the Supreme Constitutional Court as hundreds of supporters of the president protest on Sunday, December 2, in Cairo, forcing judges to postpone a hearing on a constitutional panel at the heart of a deepening political crisis.

Egyptians protest over presidential powers – A man kisses a portrait of Morsy during a gathering of thousands of Islamists in front of Cairo University on Saturday, December 1.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Thousands pray during a rally in support of Morsy in front of Cairo University on December 1.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – An Egyptian man delivers a speech as protesters gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday, November 30.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – A man shouts as protesters gather in Tahrir Square on November 30.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – A man holds a copy of the Quran and a cross in Tahrir Square on November 30.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Protesters run from Egyptian riot police during clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday, November 28.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – A protester carries a rock during clashes with police on Wednesday.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Egyptians carry a giant national flag as tens of thousands take part in a mass rally in Cairo on Tuesday, November 27, against a decree by President Mohamed Morsy granting himself broad powers.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – An Egyptian protester holds up a Quran and a figure of Christ on the cross during Tuesday's demonstration.

Egyptians protest over presidential powers – An Egyptian protester attempts to throw back a tear gas canister on Tuesday during clashes with riot police in Omar Makram Street, off Tahrir Square.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Activists in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday, November 26, carry the coffin of Gaber Salah, an activist who died overnight after he was critically injured in clashes in Cairo. Salah, a member of the April 6 movement known by his nickname "Jika," was injured last week during confrontations between police and protesters on Cairo's Mohammed Mahmud street.

Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Protesters clash with Egyptian police at Simon Bolivar Square on Sunday, November 25, in Cairo. Egypt's powerful Muslim Brotherhood called nationwide demonstrations in support of Islamist President Mohamed Morsy in his showdown with the judges over the path to a new constitution.

Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy waves to supporters in front of the presidential palace in Cairo on Friday, November 23. Thousands of ecstatic supporters gathered outside the presidential palace to defend their leader against accusations from rival protesters that he has become a dictator.

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Egyptians protest over presidential powers – Morsy supporters gather outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Friday. Morsy insisted that Egypt was on the path to "freedom and democracy," as protesters held rival rallies over sweeping powers he assumed that further polarized the country's political forces.

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"By the time you get that new constitution, it will have been written by an Islamist-dominated assembly that all non-Islamists have completely abandoned, and the new parliamentary elections will likely exclude members of the former ruling party who posed the greatest threat to his authority," Trager told CNN.

Morsy also ordered new trials and new investigations involving the deaths of protesters during last year's pro-democracy uprising, which Trager said will "very clearly" be used to go after major figures from the former ruling party. Some of them are in fact corrupt, he said, but others may not have been.

Cabinet Chief Mohamed Refa'a al-Tahtawi told CNN on Friday that the majority of Egyptians were eager to see Morsy act with a strong hand to forge progress in a government he says is impeded by former regime members.

Peter Jones, a Middle East expert at the University of Ottawa, says it's true that many Egyptians are frustrated with the lack of progress, but opponents feel Morsy's actions are not the answer.

"It's not that the changes that Morsy is making are necessarily unpopular," Jones told CNN. "It's the way he's doing it that has gotten people upset, because it reminds them of the way Mubarak used to govern."

"I don't want another dictator," Cairo resident and CNN iReporter Ahmed Raafat said after demonstrating in Tahrir Square. "I protested against Mubarak and the military council because they were dictators, so I will continue protesting against Morsy if it keeps him from following their footsteps."

Hamzawy and others say Morsy has created a deeply polarized society and forestalled a national dialogue on the next political steps.

At the same time, Trager says, Morsy's actions have also unified his opponents.

"The non-Islamists had previously been divided between leftists, Nasrists, socialists, communists, Christians, liberals, and by seizing executive power and trashing the judicial oversight so brazenly, Morsy has enabled them to paper over their other divisions."

Experts say it's possible that in issuing his edicts Thursday, Morsy was trying to build on the international acclaim he garnered for helping to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas a day earlier.

"He's been considering this sort of thing for a while, I expect," Jones said, referring to the edicts. "But given his role in Gaza ... I think he thought this would be a good time to act."

Trager agreed that Morsy may have tried to use the good will he received after the Gaza crisis to his advantage, "but really, I think domestic factors and a desire to consolidate the Muslim Brotherhood's power were the primary catalyst."

After Morsy's announcement, protesters focused their fury on the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement that has become Egypt's leading political force after being banned under Mubarak. The group has rallied in support of Morsy, its former leader.